This delightful antique Oriental Agra carpet from India uses four heart-shaped pairs of graceful vinescrolls, along with various shrubs and palmettes.

A Magnificently Breathtaking Large Oversized Seafoam Color Antique Indian Agra Rug, Country of Origin: India, Circa: Last Quarter of the 19th Century – Here is a truly remarkable antique Oriental rug – an antique Indian Agra rug, woven in India during the closing decades of the nineteenth century. Generally speaking, Agra rugs and carpets feature exceptionally complex and classical compositions, and were often either commissioned by or woven explicitly for Western consumers, who have long prized these carpets for their impressive and exotic aesthetics. Four heart-shaped pairs of graceful vine-scrolls structure the entire composition of this delightful antique Agra. Along with them are various flora like shrubs and palmettes, some of them stylized in the shape of vases. The different colors – browns, golds, and purples – are all set off against an ocean of blue-green ground. The gold-ground border reverses the effect of the field, while an outer guard of blue green reprises the field in a beautifully calculated alternating play of hue and color.

This antique Indian Agra rug is hands down one of the most breathtaking rugs in the market today. Due to the costs involved with producing a piece of this caliber it was undoubtedly custom ordered. It is obvious just by looking at the design, quality and dyes that great time and attention to detail were paid to every single aspect when it was created over 100 years ago. This piece was made for someone who not only wanted and demanded excellence, but appreciated the beauty and artistic value that can only be found in the best of the best examples.

This antique Indian Agra rug is very fine example that was woven in the same way as the best late 19th century Persian Tabriz rugs were. This leads me to believe that someone from Tabriz was most likely overseeing the production of the piece in India. We know that it was, in fact, woven in India and not in Tabriz, because of the specific dyes that were used (they are dyes that are found and were used in India, not Persia).

The design of this carpet is called a “vase design”. The vase carpet design is one of the oldest & most significant patterns in the antique rug world. It can be found in the Early 16th & 17th century carpets from Kerman (Persia).

Browns, golds, and purples set against an ocean of blue-green make this antique Agra rug a true stunner. Crafted in Amritsar, India in the late 19th century, it is a gorgeous piece that captures the exotic style of the country with a hint of colonial influence.

Agra rugs date back to the 16th century, but those made in Amristar, in northwestern India, are in a league of their own. An amalgamation of East and West, the design was born from the cultural, economic, political and social changes that came from the partition of British India into India and Pakistan in 1947.

Made from high quality wool with a cotton foundation, double weft and an asymmetrical knot, Agra rugs are known for their luxurious feel. But the signature Amristrar style came to life as weavers began incorporating the stylized needs of the West.

Decorative art became part of the designs, with spiraling vinescrolls and millefleur motifs blending with traditionally muted palates. The combination of exotic East and decorative West was a style that became immensely popular in the US and Europe, and lives on today.

Stunning, sophisticated and carrying a history of craftsmanship that spans three centuries, these antique rugs have a lasting versatility. They bring luxury to any interior design style, and pay homage to the multi-cultural influences that create priceless design.